Keen Voyageur Mid

Bottom Line

Reviewers recommend the Keen Voyageur Mid hiking shoe for day hikes in hot weather because it's well ventilated, cool and lightweight: An average men's pair weighs less than 2 pounds and a women's pair weighs slightly less than 1 pound. It also comes in a low-top shoe for both men and women.

Fit and Comfort

Plenty of wiggle room for your toes. Users love the Keen Voyageur Mid for its roomy toebox, arch support and generally comfortable fit. "The heel stays put and [it] fits snugly around the ball of my feet," writes one REI.com reviewer.

Testers at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute agree, saying the Keen Voyageur Mid's wide toe offers "ample wiggle room." While owners with wide feet are very happy with these shoes, a few narrow-footed reviewers say they like the fit, too.

Other reviewers posting to just about every retail website we visited, including DicksSportingGoods.com, Amazon.com and Backcountry.com, are just as complimentary. They say the boots are comfortable straight out of the box, no break-in needed.

At less than 2.5 pounds for a men's pair, wearers agree the boots are light in your hand and on your feet. A few say the Voyageur Mid runs about a half-size small, although an equal number report a true-to-size fit. The only real area of complaint is the insole; we found several reports that it provides inadequate padding. "It felt like walking on a hard concrete surface barefoot," says one poster at Backcountry.com.

Performance

Well vented. The Keen Voyageur Mid isn't waterproof. In fact, mesh vents along the boot's upper perform exactly the opposite function, letting air circulate so you stay dry. If you do accidentally dunk your feet, the water drains out quickly. These mesh vents and lining make the Voyageur Mid a good choice for hiking in hot weather. Researchers at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute say the boot's lining doesn't wick as well as advertised, but most users say it does a great job of keeping their feet dry.

The Voyageur Mid's traction is excellent on dry surfaces; "while all my friends were slipping and falling, these...gripped the rocks," posts one hiker at Amazon.com. We found a noteworthy number of complaints about poor traction on wet surfaces, though. Another reviewer explains at Amazon.com that when she took her Keen Voyageur Mid boots to Alaska and hiked a wet trail on granite, she "slipped and slid all the way up."

On the upside, users point out that the toecap does a great job of protecting your toes, and the relatively stiff sole provides great protection from broken rocks. Reviewers don't say much about ankle support, but the few user comments we did find are positive. The Voyageur also comes in a "low" shoe version (*MSRP $110).

Durability

The sole is the first to go. Owners say the Keen Voyageur Mid doesn't last as long as heavy leather backpacking boots, but then again, not much does. When compared to similar boots, the Voyageur measures up decently. "I have owned them now for over a year and have probably put about 300 miles on them. They still look and feel great and perform excellent on the trail," says one user at REI.com.

Another owner posts similar praise at DicksSportingGoods.com. He says he wore his Voyageur Mids "18 hrs a day while deployed to Afghanistan for 4 months. They have not worn, torn or come apart as some boots I've owned in the past have."

A couple of users complain that the soles wear down relatively quickly, but that's pretty typical with the soft rubber you're likely to find on lightweight hiking boots like the Voyageur Mid. What's more surprising is a tendency for the outsole to delaminate. In a few cases, reviewers say the layers of outsole peeled apart after just six days of wear for one REI.com poster and three months for another. Attempts to glue the soles back together are mostly unsuccessful, and it's unclear whether this results from an issue with quality control or is simply the mark of a poorly designed sole.